What We See in the Mirror
by XianiaKnight
Summary: What others see in us isn't always what we see in ourselves; and as we are faced with the challenges of life how much are we willing to warp ourselves to ease the burden? A prequel to the events of Warped Reflections that looks beyond what we know now and allows for the pieces to all come together.
1. On the Cusp of Shadows

**Cusps of shadows**

_ Well this idea has been eating at the edges of my mind for a while now and I finally decided to put it down into solid writing. Basically this is a sort of prequel to the events of Warped Reflections but there will be things here that do not take place in the actual story itself. Make no mistake, this isn't a long boring rant about what has happen in the past, there is so much more to this story than what you have seen before; so sit back and enjoy. _

**Planet Zia, the royal castle of the Ziona Family**

The laughter of a child echoes through the empty hall as I make my way to my chambers. The Prince was here today along with his extensive family to discuss the possibility of a marriage between himself and I. No matter what my parents do to detour them from there choice they remain stuck to the idea that their son and I are the perfect couple and that a union between us is a wise choice for both parties. I sigh as yank out the silver pins that pinned my hair up away from my eyes, the whole procedure with the Prince had taken hours longer than planed; and the meeting was supposed to take four hours anyway!

The laughter echoes through the halls again as I walk passed my long dead sisters room. She died from the Weeping Sickness when I was just three years old; I can't even remember her anymore as my parents refuse to speak of her. The laughter sounds again off to my right and it bothers me, I should be the only person here of an age suiting that laugh, there are no other children in the royal nursery nowadays so I am always alone.

Curious to see who was here I slipped off my pair of high heels as they made for too much noise when they walked. I stored my shoes and hair accessories behind one of the many drapes that lined the walls and went to find the source of the laughter. As I peeped my head around the door when the noise was coming from, I saw a boy about my age chasing a butterfly around the garden.

As I continued to stare he turned around and looked at me with a broad smile on his face. "Hello" he said holding out his left hand for me to shake.

"Hi' I warily replied "who are you and what are you doing here this is the royal nursery you aren't supposed to be here."

His face fell, "I am sorry my parents told me to wait in the halls but I wandered off and now I can't get back" he looked at his worn shoes "I was waiting for someone to pass by so I could get back but you are the first person I have seen since I got here."

He started to kick the ground as he spoke to me and I found my mouth rising in a smile. "It's ok if you can tell me what the hall looked like then I can get you back."

"Thank you so much" he smiled "but I don't even know your name to thank you."

I couldn't help it I laughed back "my name is Bladezia but you can call me Blade for short; and your name is?

"Sword" he replied "Nothing too fancy."

I took his hand in my own "it suits you" I replied as we walked out into the hallway "alright where did your parents leave you?"

**Planet Kenton, GSA base**

"There have been three more reports of Demon Beasts on Planet Riau as well as several new sightings in Adriano and Pli."

"How many troops can we spare to go to Riau?"

The young commander looked back at the sheet of paper in his hands, "Sir we can spare about a platoon of second year soldiers and about a dozen seasoned warriors."

"That will have to do, give the order commander" sir Arthur replied with a wave of his hand.

"Yes sir" the commander saluted and backed out of the hastily constructed tent.

"A platoon of near recruits and a handful of experienced fighters are not going to be enough" I soberly stated, it was just not possible with the amount of Demon Beast activity in the area.

"It will have to be enough" Sir Arthur replied wearily "I am not sure how much longer we are going to be able to hold out at this rate."

I simply gazed out at the troops being rallied outside, how many of them would never come home I wondered. The part of me that still held empathy knew that I didn't really want to know the answer.

**Popstar, Royal castle**

The birds outside of the window sang to the rising sun as the first rays of golden light spread across the horizon. I woke from to the sound of pots being rattled outside of the worn old door as the cooks started preparing the meals for the day. As I wearily rose from the pile of rags that served as my bed I heard the first ring of the bell that signaled that I needed to get to work. I hastily splashed some water on my face and changed into the tiny work uniform that had long since stopped fitting me.

As I walked out into the busy kitchen I found the first trays of food ready to go on the spotless island; adjusting the sash that held up my shorts I grabbed the trays and proceeded to the dining hall where the king would be waiting for his morning meal. As I made my way there I passed several other servants cleaning the floor and dusting the inanimate suits of armor that lined the hallway. They nodded to me as I walked, the people who worked here had a sort of pact, don't snitch on others as they would snitch on you and as long as that rule was followed it was all ok.

Reaching the massive double doors I shifted the trays into my right hand and arm so my left hand was free to knock on the door. As I knocked I heard a deep voice bellow "It's about damn time that you got here boy I have been waiting for five whole minuets for the food."

"Sorry" muttered as I pushed open the door allowing my eyes to fix on the red faced Cappy who was sitting alone at the head of the table.

As he gestured for me to place the food near him I couldn't help but let a small smile curve my face. I set the trays down catching my blue faced reflection in the polished surface, _"soon you fat fool"_ I thought to myself "_soon you will be waiting on me and I will be wearing the crown."_

_ So what did you all think so far? I know things may be a little boring now but they will get a lot more interesting next chapter as this one was a bit of an introduction so I wasn't going to be the most interesting thing on the planet. Anyway please review as it is GREATLY appreciated, the updates will correlate with the updates of Warped Reflections as I don't want to give anything away by revealing things too soon. _


	2. To Win the War

**To Win a War**

How much are we willing to pay to succeed?

_ Ok I am back. Sorry I was really busy for the past few weeks as well as having to write for my not so serious story "Ask the Kirby Characters". Thanks to everyone for reviewing this, I really helps out a lot (and it's nice to know what people think about what I write). I was requested to do a chapter with more Meta Knight so the majority of the chapter will focus on him and the GSA._

**Disclaimer- **I don't own anything except the story line, the characters all belong to Nintendo and Hal. 

**Meta Knight's POV**

The heavy atmosphere inside of the command center matched the heavy rain falling outside; even nature was morning the lost. We had sent roughly a thousand new recruits to their deaths for what? A half drowned planet that didn't even have a name; that is what we were fighting for, a useless planet? We had won, but had the price been fair for what our victory was?

The head officers were whispering to each other in thin, strained voices as they continued to glace at Sir Arthur and I as we sat at the raise podium in the center of the room. We were the ones that had given the order to send those troops out, against both of our better judgments we had both issued the command. Sir Arthur was too busy looking at the new maps and transport locations the strike team had found in the base after the invasion to see the looks we were being given. Those maps had been the only thing of any value that we had found in the enemy base. Everyone was told that the maps were of great value but one simple look at them would tell the truth, the maps were old, outdated, not containing any additional information we hadn't already known.

I continued to face forward; the mask prevented anyone from seeing the constant flickering emotions on my face, not a bad thing considering the emotions ranged from rage to an icy calm. For once my eyes remained the same shade of gold constantly, whatever power possessed them to change was too stunned to even comprehend the brutality of the information I was hearing. From the various scout reports as well as the medical team's report painted a truly graphic image. For every hundred soldiers that had entered the fight, only two or three made it back to base ALIVE, and even then a good portion of the soldiers rescued were in critical condition or died after returning.

_"What is the worth of war"_ I thought darkly, _"the potential of peace?_ _Nightmare grows stronger by the day, and I am not sure how much longer we can keep this up. We are running low on supplies and troops and the attacks Arthur has been issuing have become desperate. How much time do we have left before we lose everything?"_

"Meta Knight did you hear me?"

I snapped out of my thoughts at the question. The whole Council of Warriors was staring at me and I felt my face go red under my mask. "No sir" I responded quickly, not wanting to seem any more out of it that I already was.

A few chuckles drifted form those assembled, I saw Arthur visibly cringe at my day spacing. "Allow me to repeat soldier" Arthur sighed "I said that there is no longer a reason for you to stay here, please leave use so we can converse privately."

"Yes Sir" I muttered to the table in front of me, I was just as experienced as the rest of the warriors here, the only reason I wasn't a part of the council itself was…that.

I quickly rose and took my leave, there wasn't a reason to stay anyway, and it wasn't like they were going to say anything I didn't already know anyway. As I exited the building a shadow detached itself from the wall where it had been leaning not two moments before and fell in step with me. As I cast a glance at my new companion I couldn't help but roll my eyes, people were very easily frustrated with me but at least I wasn't eavesdropping on the meetings when I wasn't wanted. "How much did you hear" I asked as we rounded the bend and continued on toward the barracks.

My companion smirked and raised his hand over his head and stretched. "I heard it all" he yawned "really sucks, too many good kids died out there today."

"Its war" I signed "life is downgraded to make room for glory and honor."

My companion snorted in response to that and grew silent. Finally as we went our separate ways I spoke up, "they say all is fair in love and war" I said as I turned the corner and faced him again.

"Yeah so" he said raising an eyebrow and the random quote I made.

"If that is the case" I replied "how much do we all lose in the attempt to win that we can never get back?" and with that I tuned and left to go to my cot for some much needed sleep.

_Short, short, short. I really did mean for this to be a lot longer but a lot of the original version I edited out as I felt as though it was unnecessary. Anyway, Meta has some conflict about the way things are being run in this stage of the war with Nightmare, and you will see more of that conflict later on as the "War" reaches is final stages. On a random side note, because I didn't come out and say it, props to anyone who can guess who Meta is talking to at the end of the story. Enough with the rant (it was a long one) and I hope you enjoyed; please review and tell me what you think as well as any suggestions as to what the next chapter should focus on. _


End file.
